February

Text: Edited by Heidi Dean
January 2010

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• WATER evergreens if the soil is dry and unfrozen.
• DON’T work garden soils if they are wet. Squeeze a handful of soil. It should form a ball that will crumble easily. 
• INSPECT fruit trees for tent caterpillar egg masses. Eggs appear as dark brown or gray collars that encircle small twigs. Destroy them by pruning or scratching them off.
• BEGIN pruning fruit trees. Start with apples and pears in the third week of the month. Peaches and nectarines should be pruned just before they bloom.
• REPOT any root-bound houseplants now before vigorous growth occurs. Choose a new container that is only 1 or 2 inches larger in diameter than the old pot.
• PREVENT diseases by using sterile soil mediums when sowing seeds indoors.

Adapted from the Missouri Botanical Garden calendar at www.mobot.org.

 

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